brigitte wrote:A good book is the CZ version of the Culture Shock books. This is written by an American called Tim Nollen, who has a home in Prague. It is a good read, there is a wide variety of subjects covered, including women.

I agree, this is a great book, it's entertaining and most of the information in it is accurate and up-to-date. You'll learn about the Czech dining etiquette, standards of appearance, Czech body language, doing business in the Czech Republic, and lots of other things. I'm Czech myself and have enjoyed reading various sections of the book, sometimes laughing out loud and thinking, wow, this is right on!

I included links to buy the book on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. My Czech Republic is an affiliate of Amazon, so any purchases made through the links below will help support myczechrepublic.com and these boards!

I found quite a bit of the book amusing - the author has a witty way of describing some of the situations he's been in. There is a quiz at the back which gives different situations a foreigner may find in CZ and a selection of responses in which the reader has to guess the appropriate one!

Tim writes of various situations he has been in, including an Easter Monday custom involving birch branches - difficult to put it here exactly, but as a male American, he explained that if he'd done that in his country he'd have lost his job! The author is an English teacher and let's just say he was baffled at a particular custom that promised fertility! He explained how he was stumped when he realised his duty!

I found the most interesting as to how to behave if you are a foreigner and you are invited into a CR home, or inviting CR people into yours. Quite a good bit of information to avoid embarrassing gaffes. It would be good read up stuff for someone visiting a CR partner/friend's family where there may be the possibility of meeting up with conservative or older relatives.

Hi,
I am very happy to now know that that Czech version of the Culture Shock is for the most part accurate and up-to-date. I received it for Christmas from my sister. Although the book is on backorder on Amazon.com and I am still waiting to receive it. It should come in any day now. I am anticipating its arrival. Thanks for the positive reviews!

I have the book Culture Shock: Czech Republic as well... I was paging through it at the bookstore and found it so insightful that I read several chapters of it right there. That is when I decided to purchase it. I was hoping it would be of help as I am visiting friends in Prague this coming spring.

I've got bad news for y'all..... I ordered this book 2 weeks ago on Amazon, and got an email earlier this week that is is on back order, and I probably won't get it until early March... Everyone of you must have placed an order-

Considering it was me that first mentioned this book, I'm glad to see others are trying to get hold of it too! I often have a look in the same place as I found that for other gems!! Same shop I found the cookbook - Borders is quite good for international stuff.